Energy saving tips: from kitchen to bathroom

Easy ideas to save energy and money in every room of your home. Start saving today!

Downstairs

In your kitchen Re-use unused water – Don’t throw leftover glasses of water down the sink. Use them to water houseplants. And don’t forget to use leftover water from your washing up to water your garden.Find out how mums rate Fairy as their most efficient washing up liquid Don’t waste the cold while waiting for hot – Need to run your tap for a few minutes before it turns from cold to hot? Collect that cold water and use it for watering plants or pop it in the kettle ready for your next cuppa. Use your microwave wisely – A microwave is brilliantly energy efficient at reheating food. Much more so than your hob or you oven. But you’ll waste money if you use it to defrost food. You’ll probably be surprised at the most energy efficient place to defrost your food

In your living room Check your brightness settings - The brighter your TV is set, the more energy it uses. Check your settings and see if it’s actually more comfortable to watch your TV with the brightness turned down a bit.

In your hallway Cover your keyhole and letterbox – That little hole you pop your key into is leaking energy every day. Buy a cover for your keyhole. And ditto your letterbox. Draught-proof your door – Use a brush draught excluder to close up the gap at the bottom of your front door to stop heat escaping. You can fit foam or brush strips around the edges of the door too if there are any gaps. Cover your front door – In houses that shift a lot with different temperatures and seasons it can be hard to draught-proof your door. An alternative is to hang a curtain over the front door to keep warm air in. There’s a clever rail, called a portiere, that attaches to the top of your front door really easily and then moves the curtain as you open the front door.

In your bedroom Lose the remote - Watch a lot of TV in bed and always switch it onto standby with the remote when it’s bedtime? Stash the remote in a kitchen drawer to make you have to physically get out of bed to turn the TV off.